Automobile.



No. 854,530. PATENTED MAY 21, 1007.

AUTOMOBILE. APPLIUATI'ON FILED P21125. 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

PATENTED MAY 2l, 1907.

J. W. RIGHLEY.

AUTOMOBILE. PPLIOATION FILED PBB.z5. 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

llglllllllllll imm PATENTBD MAY 21, 1907.

J. W. RIGHLEY.

AUTOMOBILE.

APPLIGATION FILED Emme, 1907.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- M. il \m f JOHN W. RIOHLEY, OF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA.

AUTOMOBILE.

Speccation of Letters Patent.

Patented May 2.1, l1907'.

Application filed February 25. 190,7. Serial No. 359,253.

To all whom it may concer-nl:

Be it known that I, JOHN W. RICHLEY, of

i i York, in the county`of York and State of Pennsylvania, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Automobiles, of which thefollowing is a specification.

My. invention relates to means for driving the traction wheels ofautomobiles, and has more particular reference to that class of suchvehicles in which the motor is'adapted to run continuously when in use,being combined with means whereby it may be thrown into or out ofoperative connection with the traction wheels as desired.

My invention contemplates the employment of friction gearing for drivingpurposes, and the machine has been devised with that end in view. Thereis direct drive from the countcrshaft (which gets its motion from themotor shaft) to the traction wheels the fric` tion driving pinion on thecountershaft extends within the hollow hub of the traction.

wheel and it engages friction faces with which the interior of the hubis provided; the friction faces in the interior of the hub for forwarddrive are frusto-conical in shape, are of different diameters for thepurpose of obtaining different speeds according as the friction pinionengages one or the other, and

are put together base to base, so that the two faces shall incline inopposite directions the drive pinion on the countershaft has twocorresponding frusto-conical faces of different diameters, and incliningin opposite directions to one another, so that by moving the drive`pinion back or forth on its shaft, the selected one of its two drivefaces can be brought opposite to and into engagement with itscorresponding face within the hub* thus enabling me to bring one or theother of the two sets of friction faces into engagement by rectilinearmovement only of the one member with relation to the other, on the. lineof the axis of revolution of the same. There isV also within the hub afrusto-conical friction face for reverse movement, adapted to engage, orbe engaged with, the driving pinion when the latter is in neutral andinactive position with respect `to the forward drive faces. And,finally, the interior of the hub is armed with a set of teeth arrangedto form an internal toothed gear, which under certainV conditions can beengaged by corresponding teeth on the low speed end of the drivingpinion, whenever it is desirable to have ,a low speed positive drive, asfor exdrive,`and for different forward speeds.

within the compass of the hollowhub of the traction wheel driventhereby, secure and' protected from injury, and vyet readily accessiblefor renewal, repair or adjustment. r 4

Mechanism embodying all of these features in` their preferred form isrepresented in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 isa lan ofso much of the frame of an automobi e as needed for the purposes ofexplanation, those parts of the samein which my invention is comprisedbeing represented in horizontal section. Fig. 2 is a side elevation onreduced scale of an automobile embodying my invention. The remainingfigures are on considerably larger scale. Fig. 3 is a sectionalelevation on line 3 3 Fig. 1. Figs. 4, 5, 6, 7, are horizontal sections,in the plane of the axis of the hub, of one of the hubs and itscontained parts, representing them in the several ositions which theyassume for forward an revrse 1g. 4 represents the parts in position forhigh forward speed. Fig. 5 represents the parts in position for lowforward speed-friction drive. Fig. 6 represents the parts in positionfor low forward speedpositive drive. Fig. 7 represents the parts inposition for reverse drive. Figs. 8 and 9 are sectional views ofdetached parts on lines 8-.8 and 9-9 of Fig. 4, respectively. Fig. 1()is a sectional elevation of a detail hereinafter referred to.

In Fig. 1, A is a three point suspension frame; B is the front axle; andC is the rear axle, on which are mounted the traction wheels whose hubsare shown in section at D. The hubs are hollow, and are provided eachwith a central tubular spindle bearing D vwhich are mounted and adaptedto revolve on the cylindrical end portions of the rear axle-which axle,between these end portions, is of square cross-section, as indicated inFigs. 3 and 4. The hubs D are alike, and they are driven by similarappliances. A description of one, therefore, will answer for both. Thehollow hub D overhangs the axle. On the inner face of its band orcircumferential wall, it has two frusto-conical surfaces d d incliningin opposite directions, and of different `diameters-the outer one dbeing of less diameter than the other. Between the surface d and theouter vertical wall of IOO.

IIO

spindle bearing.

E (Fig. l) is thev countershaft mounted to revolve in suitable bearingson the frame of the machine, and driven from the motor shaft F by somesuitable intermediary, as the sprocket chain and gearing 'AX shown inFig. 3. The motor is typified by the dotted circle G, Fig. 3. i

The ends of the countershaft extend into the. hollow hubs,and on each ofits ends is mounted a friction drive pinion E united with the shaft by aspline and groove connection, which will permit the pinion tol movelengthwise of the shaft while revolving with it. The friction drivepinion projects into the hub which it is to serve; it has twofrusto-conical drive surfaces e e of different diameters set base tobase and inclined in opposite directions the surface e of largerdiameter to act in coperation with the concave drive surface d of largerdiameter in the hub for high speed, and the surface e of smallerdiameter to coperate with the concave surface d in the hub for lowspeed. yOn the small end of the friction pinion, beyond the surface e',are teeth or cogs e2 adapted (under conditions hereinafter described) toengage the internal gear d2 in the hub, for low speed positive drive.The smaller tapered portion e of the friction drive pinion projectsbetween the concave low speed surface darid the central friction wheel dfor reverse drive.

Thecountershaft is s o located that the friction drive pinion can bebrought into engaging contact with either one of the forward drivesurfaces in the hub by a sliding movement of the pinion on its shaft.When the pinion is moved in one direction the high speed frictionsurface e and d will engage, as shown in Figs. 1 and 4; when moved inthe opposite direction these two surfaces will be disengaged; and thelow speed friction surfaces e d will engage, as shown in Fig. 5. Thereis also an intermediate position of the f ric-tion drive pinion in whichit will be out of engagement with either one of the forward drive.surfaces d d in the hub, as seen in Fig. 7, this being necessary forreverse movement of the hub. After the drive pinion has been brought tothis neutral position, wherein it can revolve freely and continuously asan idle wheel, without imparting any movement to the hub, all that isneeded is to slide the reverse drive wheel d3 from its normal position(shown in Fig. 5 and in dotted lines in Fig. 7) to the position shown infull lines Fig. 7, in which it is in engaging contact with the slowspeed drive surface e of the friction drive pinion E. that the engaement of thereverse drive wheel d3 with t e slow speed drive surface ewould give higher speed than either one of the forward speeds. 'Thisindeed would be the case if the two engaged positively as toothed gearsdo, for example. But they have frietional engagement only and byregulating the pressure of the reverse drive wheel on its fellow wheel(by means of the pedal or foot lever 22 hereinafter referred to) as muchAt first sight it might seem slip between the twosurfaces can be allowedas desired, with consequent diminution of reverse movement.

It remains now to describe how the toothed gears e2 d2 for the forwardlow speed positive drive are brought into engagement.' lReferring toFig. 5, in which the low forward speed friction surfaces d e of the huband drive pinion E are in contact, while the toothed gears d2 e2 arestill out of engagement, it is manifest that the drive pinion cannot beadvanced or pushed in a direction to cause its teeth c2 to mesh with theteeth d2 of the hub, without first retracting the countershaft farenough from the hub face d \to permit the further advance of the pinionrequired for this purpose. After the countershaft has been thusretracted the driving IOO pinion E mav then be further advanced orpushed into the hub, until its teeth e2 arein mesh with the cogs orteeth d2 of the hub, thus obtainin a slow speed forward positive drive.This s ight receding movement of thev countershaft may be` provided forin various ways. I prefer to mount it in boxes which are mount-ed on asuitable portion of the frame, and are capable of movement back andforth in a plane at right angles to the axis of revolution -of thecountershaft. Two of such boXes-one foreach end of the countershaft willbe required, as indicated in Fig. 1. One of these boxes with its seat isshown more particularly in Figs. 3, 4, 8, 9. v

H is the box (shown on enlarged scale in Fig. 9) having a base in theshape of a tongue H which its'and is adapted to slide in a dovetail orundercut way 'i 1n the seat I, which latter is mounted on th'e frame ofthe machine in any suitable manner--in the present instance being hungat its rear end of the square portion of the rear axle, and having itsfront portion bolted to one of the longitudinal side bars of the frameA. Both the tongue Hand the slide or way t' in which it moves are curvedin the arc of a circle struck from the'axis of "the motor shaft as acenter, to permit the back and forth movement of the countershaft box inthe slide without IIO disturbing the motion transmitting gearing betweenthe motor shaft and the countershaft. As a convenient means of thusmoving the box I provide the tongue H on its upper face with a rack hwhich is engaged bya pinion y' whose shaft J is mounted to revolve inboxes i" on the seat I. There is of course tion, the two ratchets 1 (theteeth of one reversed in position relatively to those of the other)being fast on the shaft J, and the pawls (one for each ratchet)being onthe endh of a crank arm swiveled on shaft J, and connected by a rod 2 totheJ crank shaft 3 of thel operating lever 4 (Figs. 1 and 2)., One orthe other of the pawls is thrown into engagement with its ratchetaccording as it is desired to move the two boxesH in one direction orthe other, as will be understood without further explanation..

The devices by which the friction drive pinions and the reverse drivewheels may respeetively be'actuated and adjusted in'unison can be of anyapproved type. Those I have shown are merely for purposes ofillustration, and are indicated to' a large extent diagrammatically, inFig. 1. The two friction drive pinions E are connected by rods 5 shownin dottedl lines in Fig. 1 which at their meeting ends are provided withracks 6 (Fig.`

10) that enter and can move back and forth in guides in a box 7, mountedon the rear axle, in which is a pinion 8 fast ofi the rear end of ashaft 9. The racks engage the pinion on diametrically opposite sidesthereof,`

so that a movement of the pinion in one direction will pull theminwardly, and in the other direction will push them outwardly. The outerends of the rods 5 are forked, as at 10, to enter annular grooves 11 inthe hubs of the friction drive pinion E whereby the rods can move thelatter lengthwise without interfering with their rotary movement. Thefront end of shaft 9 has on it a`worm wheel 12, engaged by a worm 13, onthe operating shaft `14 provided With handle 15. By' proportioningtheparts' properly, and giving the proper pitch to the thread of theworm, any desired range of` movement of the rods 5- can be obtained.'Similarly, to operate the friction `reverse drive wheels d3finadirection lengthwise of the axle, I connect them by rods 16 (shown indotted lines. in Fig. 1), having yokes 17 at their outer ends to enterannular grooves in the wheels, and having their inner ends swiveled oneccentric pins 1 8', mounted in, and placed on opposite sides of theaxis of, a disk 19 pivotedto turn upon an axis 20 and having a crankvconnection to a rod 21 operated by a foot lever 22. The box or frame 23in which the disk 19 is mounted, has arms 24 supporting a guide bearingthrough which the rod 21 passes, and encircling the rod and confinedbetween this bearing and a collar on the rod is a spiral spring 25 whichtends to return the parts to the position from which they were moved bythe foot lever. These adjusting devices as I have said are referred tomerely for purposes of illustration. They are typical of many approveddevices for similar uses known to the skilled mechanic acquainted withthe art to which my invention relates.

The friction drive pinions E are made preferably of a material such asvulcanized ber. The friction faces d cl in the hub and the reverse driveWheel d3 are made preferably of metal. I propose to provide the openface of each hub with asuitable'hood or cover, preferably of aluminium,and detachably heldin place.

l will be noted that practically all ofthe driving mechanism is housedwithinz the hubs of the traction wheels, where it is in safe andprotected position and yet readily accessible for purposes ofadjustment, replacement or repair. The two frusto-conical friction drivesurfaces of different diameters 'located base to base upon the interior4of, the band of the hub, whereby this interior is utilized, inconnection with-a drive pinion movable length wise on its actuatingshaft, for a two speed forward friction drive, I believe to be new withme beyond its particular embodiment herein illustrated 3 as also thecombination therewith of' the lengthwise movable centra] frusto-conicalfriction wheel for reverse drive.

Having described my improvement and the best way now known to me ofcarrying the same into practical effect, I state in conclusion that I donot restrict myself to the struc- -tural details herein shown and setforth in illustration of my invention, since manifestly the same can beconsiderably varied without departure from the spirit of my invention:but

What I claim as new and'desire to secure by Letters Patent is asfollows:

1. In an automobile, a traction wheel having a hollow hub, two frictiondrive surfaces of different diameters upon the interior face of thecircumferential wall of the hub, these surfaces being'frusto-conical incontour and disposedbase to base so as to incline in oppositedirections,in combination with an actuating shaft, a friction drivepinion mounted thereon and provided with two frusto-conical frictiondrive surfaces of different diameters disposed base to base so as toincline in opposite directions, said friction drive pinion capable ofsliding'movement lengthwise of its actuating shaft, and arranged so thatsuch movement thereon in one direction will bring its drive face oflarger diameter in contact with the corresponding face of largerdiameter in the hub, and, in the other direction Will bring its driveface of smaller diameter in contact with the corresponding face ofsmaller diameter in the hub, substantially as and for the purposeshereinbefore set forth.

2.] In an automobile, a traction wheelv having a hollow hub, twofriction drive surfaces i frusto-conical drive surfaces of dierentdiameters disposed base to base, and with teeth on the prolongation ofthe outer and smaller end ofthe surface of smaller diameter forming atoothed inion, said friction drive pinion being capa le of slidingmovement upon its actuating shaft, to bring either its high or its lowspeed friction surface into contact with the corresponding friction facein the, hub, and the bearings of the actuating shaft being movable andadjustable in a direction to vary the distance between the shaft andthehub, to permit the further advance of the friction drive pinion in adirection to put the teeth on its end in mesh with the internal toothedgear in the hub, substantially as and Vfor the kpurposes hereinbeforeset forth.

3. In an automobile, a traction wheel having a hollow hub upon theinterior of the band respectively, disposed base to base so as toincline in o posite directions, a central tubular spindlecaring formingpart of the hub and mounted -on the traction wheel axle, a reverse drivefrusto-conical pulley or wheel mounted on said spindle-bearing in suchmanner that while revolving with, it may slide lengthwise of, the same,an actuating shaft, and a friction drive pinion mounted to revolve with,but to be capable of sliding lengthwise of, said shaft, and having twotapering reversely inclined friction drive surfaces of differentdiameters for high and low speed respectively, to cooperate with thecorresponding forward drive surfaces in the hub, and having its smallerend portion eX- tendin Ainto the space between the slow speed forwarddrive surface in the b and of the hub and the central reverse drivewheel,

the arrangement being such that when the friction drive pinion is inneutral position with respect to the forward drive surfaces in the hub,it may be brought into engagement with the central reverse drive Wheel,by moving the latter toward the friction drive pinion,` substantially asand for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN W. RICHLEY. y Witnesses:

` E. N. SPANGLER, JR.,

GEORGE L. HOLLAND.

